Shameless Newbie Ruby Modine on Playing Lip's Latest Love Interest

Lip Gallagher has issues with women. If that wasn't already apparent before season 7 — perhaps you were living in denial, having been hypnotized by his eyes — it's certainly apparent now. He refuses to support his sister's ambitions, as if his own are somehow more important than hers; and the minute his new hookup Sierra moves their relationship an inch beyond "casual" he pulls away from her. But perhaps there's hope. He did apologize to Sierra, if not Fiona, at the end of last week's episode. And his eyes are still incredibly blue. To sort through the emotional mess, Cosmopolitan.com spoke to Ruby Modine, the actress who plays Sierra, about whether her character has real romantic potential with Lip, shooting sex scenes, and what it was like to join such a tight-knit cast.

How familiar were you with the show when you got the part?

Very familiar; I’ve been a fan of the show since the first season. It was such an amazing honor to book a role on it six years later. I was very nervous because I thought I’d take a while to get used to everyone. But at my first table read, we immediately clicked. Everyone on the show is so wonderful and supportive. It was almost an instant family.

You all looked completely at ease with each other at William H. Macy's premiere party — I want to hear more about that party.

It was wonderful. When we arrived, there were these insanely tasty cupcakes with all of our cast-mates names on them. There were margaritas named after a few of the cast-members. But not a lot of people were drinking because everyone was very focused on the first episode, like, "Everybody be quiet and pay attention." There was a projector screen. We all watched outside as the sun was setting.

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That was the day that Jeremy Allen White [who plays Lip] finally joined Instagram. Did you help convince him?

Yeah, a little bit. All of us are on Instagram, all of us are always promoting [the show]. So it was kind of forced upon him in the sweetest way. Everyone was on the couch saying, “What’s the name going to be? What’s the photo going to be? What should the bio be?” It was like a hijacking situation. The next move we’re trying to make is getting him to make a Twitter account. Perhaps for the season finale.

How would you describe Jeremy?

Jeremy is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. So kind. He goes out of his way to be there in any way that he can. If I wasn’t comfortable with something or wanted to talk to him about something — oh my gosh, I’m so blessed to have been able to work alongside him.

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I'm starting to believe that Lip is shitty to women. I've resisted the idea because I love his character, but the proof is all there. What’s your take?

I think it’s more of a confusion with Lip, maybe, or [his behavior] comes from his upbringing with his mother not being around. I would understand how people would say he’s shitty. I’ve seen a lot of that on Twitter — “He’s so shitty to women, he’s such a womanizer.” But he fell in love with Mandy. He was so in love with Helene. I think after the relationship with Helene, it showed he could have genuine, real feelings.

With Mandy, I’m still haunted by the sex scene where she says she loves him and he doesn’t say it back.

But even that moment, do you remember how his face looks? It’s kinda like he wanted to say it back, but I think that there’s a little bit of a fear behind saying it because of how he was raised. He has a constant fear of neglect or being abandoned. His character’s done some questionable things, but it mostly stems from fear.

Is Sierra playing it a little cooler than she actually feels?

I’m going to try to answer this without giving anything away for the rest of the season: I think she’s coming from a messed up situation, from a relationship where she got pregnant — and you’re going to meet her baby daddy on Sunday — and I think that left her a bit damaged, and her main goal is just to protect her son. But I think that maybe she’s playing it a little cool.

She’s gotten much more comfortable with him and we can see that they’ve obviously been spending a lot of time together because he lets himself into her house and whatnot. It seems like they have a routine. So I think it’s safe to say that maybe she started off thinking “this is a really good looking guy and he seems fun,” but maybe over time she does want something more.

What’s the dynamic like between her ex and Lip?

You’re going to have to watch on Sunday.

Mickey is coming back this season — does that mean we might see a Sierra-Mandy run-in?

Spoiler!

Well, how do you think they’d get along if they did meet?

I think it would be a good encounter. Sierra is welcoming and happy. How I could answer this question ... it would just throw the two next episodes under the bus. But, um, I think it would be fine. Sierra is welcoming enough that she would maybe be uncomfortable because it’s an ex – who wouldn’t be uncomfortable if somebody’s ex shows up unannounced in some way? — but it would be good all in all. How would Lip handle it is the real question.

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An upcoming scene from episode 7.

Showtime

We discovered in episode six that Sierra is a squirter. Is it more awkward or challenging to do an oral sex scene like that or a regular sex scene?

I wouldn’t say that one is more awkward or anything — because it’s such a professional setting. There’s crew and people around, and if you’re working with somebody who is so profoundly professional and knows what’s going on, it’s going to be comfortable to a certain degree. It happens quickly, they get to the point, there’s no lingering around. Shameless’s production has that down.

I thought the mouth noises made the scene very realistic.

I feel like with Shameless, they want the sex scenes to be so raw so that the audience can really relate to them. It's known for getting really gritty and to the point. Whereas if you watch a big film, the lighting’s really beautiful and they’re getting certain silhouettes or something.

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I saw on Instagram that you’ve hung out with Jeremy’s girlfriend, Addison Timlin. Did you have a moment where you acknowledged the elephant in the room, that you’ve been naked with her boyfriend, or not so much since she's also an actress and gets it?

No! No. Addison is absolutely lovely. I spent the last night in Chicago with her and Jeremy, and I even went out of my way to tell her I am so appreciative of Jeremy because he’s just so wonderful. To enter into something and be nervous about it and then not be nervous about it anymore because your co-star just knows how to handle the situation — I told her, I am so appreciative of it. And we swapped stories about her time in film. She’s just absolutely lovely. We spent the whole night cracking up and talking about normal-people stuff.

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Your dad is a famous actor [Matthew Modine, who now stars as the mad scientist in Stranger Things]. Were your parents concerned about you getting into acting yourself?

They were probably worried about the same things any parent worries about. There’s a lot of judgment, a lot of criticism out there, especially in today’s world with all the social media. Everyone has an opinion now. Everyone can say whatever they want at any time of the day. There’s a big microscope put on you once you’re at a certain [point] in your career. How thick is your skin going to be? How are you going to handle that? If you want to be in the industry, you have to have a thick skin.

It’s incredible that your parents have been together for 37 years. How do you think they’ve weathered all the storms that come in Hollywood?

First of all, last night, when I came to say hello to them at the house, they were snuggling on the couch. I just need somebody to know this. And my dad was asleep on her shoulder under a blanket, and she was like messing with his hair. I was like, What? This is my opinion: If you love the person you’re with, you acknowledge that you’re going to have ups and downs, but like you just said, you weather the storm. If it’s worth the fight you have to do it. I can’t stand these couples, they come across one little hiccup and they throw in the towel. Because it’s not a real relationship. They have spent 37 years supporting each other and loving each other and being completely honest.

Does that make it easier or harder for you to have relationships of your own?

It raises the bar a little bit for the men that I get into relationships with! No, I think it’s great. When it comes to relationships, I personally love love. Their relationship has given me a very optimistic outlook.

Speaking of optimistic outlooks: Do you think there could be a real future for Sierra and Lip?

Yes. I think there's a possibility. If it were to happen — with a very, very bold if — it would be because she's grounded and knows what she wants. She's a hard worker and not partying all the time. A better way to say it is that Sierra could be a good choice for Lip. But you never know.

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